Saturday, June 17, 2017

This week we go deep into the cave...all the way to the fires of Hell! We encounter evil forces yet, thankfully, live to tell the tale. We start off with an amazing film from 1973 called The Pyx. It stars Karen Black and Christopher Plummer in a tragic story of a prostitute who gets involved in nefarious dealings and pays the ultimate price, and the detective who's trying to unravel the mystery of her death. The film has a fascinating structure, with the story broken into two timelines. It was a real surprise to both of us and we highly recommend it. We follow that up with 1981's Demonoid: Messenger of Death, which features Samantha Eggar and Stuart Whitman. It is the story of an American couple who've bought a mine in Mexico where they unknowingly unleash an evil disembodied hand that seemingly wants to take over the world. It is a mish-mash of interesting moments but ultimately is not really worth your time. Let us know what you thought of the show by writing to us at flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. Alternately, you could post a message on our Facebook page or tweet @cavewalls.

Sunday, June 4, 2017

To "Celebrate" the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars, we decided to look at two "tributes" to that landmark film from Roger Corman. We start off with 1980's "Battle Beyond the Stars" which is essentially a retelling of "Seven Samurai" but with space ships instead of swords. With a script from John Sayles, it is a classic tale, told well, with occasionally-impressive effects work from a team that included James Cameron! We follow that up with 1983's "Space Raiders" which features ALL of the special effects ( literally ) from Battle Beyond the Stars, but with a different wraparound story about an accidental kidnapping and an evil corporation chasing a band of ne'er-do-wells around the galaxy. It is not good, but was still fun in spots, and seeing how they reused all the effects work was certainly a lesson in frugality. Let us know what you thought of the show by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com or just post a message on the Facebook page.